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In a society uprooted by two world wars, industrialization, and dehumanizing technology, a revolutionary farmer turns to poetry to reconnect his people to the land and one another.
“One of the most powerful books I’ve ever read.” – Joel Salatin
In a society uprooted by war, industrialization, hate-filled ideology, and dehumanizing technology, Philip Britts sought a way of life where people could work together in harmony with the land and one another.
A farmer, poet, activist, pastor, and mystic, Britts (1917–1949) has been called a British Wendell Berry. His story is no romantic agrarian elegy, but a life lived in the thick of history. As his country plunged headlong into World War II, he joined an international pacifist community, the Bruderhof, and was soon forced to leave Europe for South America.
Amidst these great upheavals, his response – to root himself in faith, to dedicate himself to building community, to restore the land he farmed, and to use his gift with words to turn people from their madness – speaks forcefully into our time. In an age still wracked by racism, nationalism, materialism, and ecological devastation, the life he chose and the poetry he composed remain a prophetic challenge.
Jennifer Harries, a member of the Bruderhof, was born in Llansamlet, Wales, and now lives in New York.
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View Table of ContentsI found this book breathtaking. The young prophet Philip Britts lived the life we would all benefit from. Philip had a deep connection to the land, a profound understanding of the necessity of living within a nonviolent community and the daily living of the gospel of Jesus in presence. His poetry speaks to our current time and is a welcome salve to all who read it. Thank you to the Bruderhof who so generously shared this book with me.
What makes this work great is the seamless integrity between poetry, essays and the life of the man. He has been called a “British Wendell Berry.” In many ways, he embraced a far more difficult life than Berry–a costly affirmation of pacifism in wartime Britain, a communal existence, emigration, and establishing a viable community under primitive conditions, an integrity of living with the land, and suffering that came from his embrace of that land. What comes through is the wonder of living in this creation with all its challenges, a sense of the tragedy of a world at war with itself when the Prince of Peace beckons, and a life permeated by the grace of God. Like Berry, he awakens us to what it is to live in harmony with the land one farms. Like Berry, he recognizes the treasure of life in a place, and in a community. Like Berry, he reminds us of the deep, pervasive presence of the grace of God in all of creation. The God whose grace waters us at the roots, sustaining our lives.
The story itself is extraordinary, and Britts's message of egalitarianism and universal brotherhood, coupled in his conviction that man's natural environment to experience God is on the land, could not be timelier. His collection will entrance and bring joy to nature-lovers and poetry-lovers alike.
The story itself is fascinating, but it was Philip's poetry that spoke most deeply to me. At only 17, he was already penning lines such as "What matter the eyes have seen so much that the soul is colour-blind?" He was a keen observer of nature, people, politics. His work shows intelligence and insight. He acknowledged pain and struggling, weariness and death, but somehow never seemed to lose his optimism and sincere thankfulness for life. In these turbulent times, this is a highly recommended read for those seeking both outer and inner peace.
This short beautiful book filled with Britts’s poetry, mostly devoted to the love of farming and the land is his ode, tracking a well written timeline, his affecting poetry and his love of the community of mankind. Brief, special, prophetic, unlike most books on the market today.
The poems alone will take the reader back a couple hundred years in their tone and style… The love of the land and the lifestyle are far removed from today's industrial agriculture, GMOs, profits, and chemical fertilizers - a refreshing change. The religious aspects are gentle and open to all regardless of belief. Britts is a man who brought out the best in human nature and invited others to follow.
That Britts chose to root himself not only in God but in an intentional community which attempted to restore the land they farmed, makes his simple life itself one of great beauty and courage. He speaks powerfully to our own times, even as he presciently foresaw much that was brewing in the middle of the 20th century with its idolatry of speed and progress and growth. A truly lovely, artful book.
Water at the Roots is not only a stunning example of poetry and prose informed by agricultural work, faith, and war, but also a rare voice we’ve not heard before. Though Britts’s writing falls in the agricultural timeline and tradition of Sir Albert Howard, an early organic farming pioneer, its scope, in both poetry and prose, is far more broad. With unique qualifications as a pacifist, a member and pastor of an intentional community, and a farmer in Paraguay during World War II, Britts has the authority to not only call for the restoration of land but also to call for the restoration of our humanity. This is a deeply important book for our times.
The spiritual wisdom that's here is as deep as the earth itself, and as old as human thriving with the land, when that thriving is seen as an expression of faith in God. What readers will ultimately find in this book is a living expression of the words of Acts from the New Testament. And that expression will change your life when you take it seriously. Water at the Roots is a book to relish – take the reading slowly. Let its refreshment transform you. It has me.
Epilogue
